Scott Walker’s proposed $300 million higher education cut comes as other states are putting money back into colleges

Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed budget cut of $300 million to the University of Wisconsin System comes as other states, nationally and in the Midwest, have inched up funding for higher education, restoring support lost during the economic recession. More increases are expected in coming years.

“The numbers do seem to be improving,” said Lara Couturier, director of postsecondary state policy at Jobs for the Future, a Boston research nonprofit focused on education and employment for low-income Americans. “Since the dog days of the recession, the national picture is looking a little better but it doesn’t change the fact that there has been overall a declining investment in higher education by our states.”

Wisconsin is one of a handful of states that hasn’t restored funding in this fiscal year to where it was in 2009-2010, when higher education systems nationwide — in addition to most other public agencies — saw dramatic funding cuts due to the economic recession that started in late 2007.